Stamps Ahead

A longer than usual post today. I was recently asked by a friend, also called Margaret, to design six Christmas cards for her to make this year.  Here are the cards and more about the request below. Due to an operation on her spine and then an operation on her right thumb and index finger with Margaret still recovering from her operation on her right hand fingers and having physio she has been told not to use this right hand for several more months - very hard for a right-handed person.   Eager, to get back to making cards, with her left hand of course, for family and friends this Christmas and being able to colour in, use a tape runner and get her husband to help with if needed. It was a great exercise as it made me think, as I made each card, if it was appropriate for her to make.  Several times on each card I would use my left hand - not my dominant hand!  I did the die cutting and stamping for each card, I also offered alternate instructions for her to consi...

A layout for 2nd challenge at Scrappingclearly Virtual Cyber Crop on this weekend: The challenge - Use paint, tissue paper, cotton thread, stamping and patterned paper on your project. This is what I did: Using Kaszazz watercolour paper 12" x 12" and some scraps and using watercolour paints (the round ones in those cute round towers) I created my background. with colours that I saw in the photo. The scraps I painted I used Sizzix Thinlet Poinsettia die to cut out flowers, leaves and flower centres. I took a piece of patterned paper from my stash that matched the colours and attach this to Tim Holtz Idea-ology plain tissue paper, sewn together with a black thread.   I fringed the tissue paper.  I did not want coloured or patterned tissue as I wanted the colours to remain in the tones selected.  Stamps are from an old Stampin' Up! set called Crazy about you. I used 1 strand of embroidery cotton  in each of the colours (or the nearest I had) and a little of th...